Broken Wings, Soaring Heart

My name is Abigail Greenspan. In L City, everyone calls me the sinner of the Greenspan family. They say I stole Sarah Greenspan's life. Twenty years ago, a mix-up at the hospital accidentally put me into the Greenspan family mansion. Meanwhile, Sarah Greenspan, the real heiress of the Greenspan family, has spent twenty years suffering in the slums. When I turned eighteen, the truth was revealed. I fell from the clouds into the mud. The day Sarah Greenspan came back, Mr. and Mrs. Greenspan held her and cried all day. Their eyes toward me shifted—from gentle and indulgent to cold and full of disdain. "You thief." That was the very first thing Mrs. Greenspan said to me. I wanted to explain, to tell them I never meant it. But the words got stuck in my throat, pushed back by Sarah's icy stare. She hated me more than I had ever imagined. At first, it was only verbal humiliation. She would deliberately spill red wine on me at the banquet, then fake an apology. She'd throw my things out of the house, claiming they were hers all along. Mr. Greenspan and Mrs. Greenspan never stopped her; they even sided with her, blaming me for being ungrateful. I thought if I just held on a little longer, they'd eventually come around. Until that day. I was walking home from school, just reaching the alley entrance, when a bunch of rough men blocked my way. "You must be Abigail Greenspan?" The man leading them had a cigarette hanging from his lips, his eyes dripping with ill intent. I gripped my backpack strap tighter and took a step back. "Who are you?" "Who we are doesn't matter." The man blew out a smoke ring. "Someone paid us to teach you a lesson." My heart tightened, and I instantly thought of Sarah Greenspan. When they lunged at me, I ran desperately. But how could I outrun thugs who had been roaming the streets for years? They grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall. Pain and fear overwhelmed me in an instant. "Help! Help!" I screamed with everything I had. But this alley was so remote, no one responded at all. They got tired of beating me, so they started tearing my clothes. I stared at their ugly faces; all that was left in my heart was despair. To avoid their touch, I turned and climbed the nearby wall. The wall wasn't high, but below was hard concrete. "Come down!" the thugs shouted from below. I looked at them, then glanced back at the empty alley behind me. Without hesitation, I jumped down. A sharp pain shot through my legs, as if my bones had shattered. I curled up on the ground, trembling all over with pain. The thugs saw me jump down, cursed under their breath, and left. I struggled to pull out my phone and dialed the Greenspan family's number. Mrs. Greenspan answered the phone. "Mom, I'm hurt. I think my leg's broken. Please come get me and take me to the hospital." I cried, my voice choked with sobs. There was silence for a few seconds, then Mrs. Greenspan's cold voice came through: "You were careless yourself. What does that have to do with us?" "Mom, it really hurts. If I don't get to the hospital soon, my leg might be ruined." I begged. "You deserve to be ruined." Mrs. Greenspan's voice was cold and merciless. "You stole Sarah's life. This is the punishment you deserve." After saying that, she hung up. I kept calling Mr. and Mrs. Greenspan over and over, but they never picked up again.